The First Meeting
by jfic
Summary: A Tera Online one shot. Characters are based off of our in-game toons.


A/N: I'm sorry this is listed as MISC, there's no category for Tera fics yet soo... yeah. Please forgive any errors! I haven't written something like this in a long, long time!

* * *

Frey dismounted off the white Pegasus and landed heavily unto the platform. The flight master looked at him, a silly grin over his Poporian face as he spread his arms wide he announced in a squeaky pitched voice.

"Welcome, to Pora Elinu!" he said grandly. Frey looked around; the country was lush with plant-life and animals. Bulbous flowers grew from every crevice of every tree, they would pulsate gently while small pods of seeds were puffed out and they gently floated away on the wind. Looking up he saw the large flowering tree not far from the platform. It was surrounded by the city; three bridges branched away from it – stretching in three different directions towards the various camps within the vicinity.

"Is there anything you need help with, young adventurer?" the Popori asked, Frey had been standing there for a few minutes now, taking in the new surroundings. It was very different than the previous countries he had visited before, not to mention very different from Allemantheia.

"No." he replied curtly and adjusted his greatsword that rested upon his back, "I don't need anything." He flicked his wrist, the Rune that held his horse appeared instantly in front of him; the steed breathed an icy breath, a cloud of mist disappearing quickly. It pawed the ground lightly, leaving ice in its place; with a swift swing of his leg, Frey mounted unto Sleipnir and trotted off towards the city of Pora Elinu.

"Enjoy your stay!" he heard the Popori shout behind him cheerfully. He wrinkled his nose, his soft features crinkling up like an old man in disdain. Popories had annoying voices and their optimistic attitudes were annoying to match. The only time they worried was when one of their own was being hunted down by the vampires back in Popolion, but even then they would keep a cheerful attitude about things.

Frey was met by the two guards of Pora Elinu, their halberds blocking his way at the entrance.

"Dear Adventurer we welcome you to Pora Elinu, but we have to stop your way as any type of mount or vehicle is forbidden within our city!" the short fat raccoon Popori said in his stern voice; his voice was still pitched, and Frey had to crack a smile.

"Is something the matter sir?" he stood there, hands on his furry hips.

"Nothing," Frey mused, "why is my horse forbidden to ride within your walls?"

"Orders of the Princess! If you have an issue with it, please take your complaints to the service desk."

"Tch." Orders, Frey scowled and dismounted, taking orders from anyone pissed him off. He held up the Rune and Sleipnir disappeared slowly, leaving a cloud of ice behind. The Poporis nodded in approvement and pulled their halberds apart, letting Frey enter the palace walls. Elins and other Adventurers walked or ran about, conversations kept the city lively while merchants shouted their wares. Frey walked around, taking in his surroundings once again; Elins were in small groups of three or four, they talked softly yet strongly at the same time. They held various flowers and rocks, every once in a while an essence appearing along with a book and a quick cast of magic from their small hands. Frey walked up to a merchant who had finished bargaining with a customer.

"What can I do for you, brother?" it was a high elf that sold Alchemic Materials. Frey resisted the urge to tell the old elf that they were not brothers since that was talk from the old city.

"I came here from Velika, there's talk about the Princess needing help with something?"

"There is, but I do not bother with Pora Elinu's matters," he replied, he then eyed Frey's greatsword and a quick flash of disapproval travelled across his face, "but the Princess is there, standing on her platform like always." He nodded towards the North end of the area. Frey frowned, he felt the man judging him behind the fake serene smile. He knew other high elves did not approve of swordsmanship or getting their hands dirty.

"Thank you." He replied curtly and walked off without batting another eye towards the man.

"You should write to your mother to say you are alright!" the Alchemist yelled after him, Frey snorted, why would he write to his mother? She was the one who didn't approve of him leaving in the first place!

Frey walked towards the Princess, who, annoyingly was laughing in a high pitch voice as her court were gushing how lovely she was today. He was instead met with Lienyn, the Knights Leader; she placed a hand on her hip and stared at him sternly.

"What business do you have here, Slayer?" she asked. Frey folded his arms.

"I merely wanted to talk with the Princess, or am I to submit a request to the service desk and wait for approval to have an audience with her instead?" his remark was snide, he knew that, but all these rules and short little girls running around him had given him a headache. Lienyn was not amused by his tone of voice.

"I have a few tasks that you need to complete first. Every Adventurer needs to show their worth before you meet with Princess Arin." She held up a few scrolls, "Complete these tasks first and we'll talk about meeting the Princess."

"What?" Frey replied in disbelief, "You want me to do your chores?" he laughed while waving his hand in disagreement, "I'm sorry, but a little squirrel like you cannot stop me from talking to the Princess."

Lienyn frowned, her cute face becoming taught with anger; she snapped her fingers and two other Knights rushed to her side.

"Say that one more time Slayer and you will be on the first flight out of Pora Elinu. We have no use for an Adventurer who belittles us Elins!"

Frey huffed out of his nose, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that those nearby had stopped what they were doing to listen and watch what was happening. Ease-dropping annoyances, Frey thought and sighed. He wanted to avoid causing trouble in such a large city. The last thing he wanted to do was piss off Elins and have Fraya hear about it back in Allemantheia.

"Alright, alright, I'll do your _tasks_." He said through gritted teeth and snatched the few scrolls out of her small hand. Lienyns lips turned into a satisfied smile.

"Good, when you're done Slayer, report back here and we'll talk about your meeting with Princess Arin!"

"Yeah…" Frey said with a mocking salute and turning away at the same time. He shook his head and unfurled the paperwork.

Frey had finished the tasks relatively quickly, since he was a Slayer, swinging at things became a second nature to him. Once his sword started moving, it was hard for it to stop. Anything that moved or made a noise that wasn't in a native tongue, he immediately ran towards it in a furry, killing it instantly. The adrenaline that spread throughout his body from each kill exhilarated him, and he instantly charged towards his next target without second thought. Once he would get within this rhythm it was hard for him to stop until there was nothing left for him to kill.

Now he stood within Fangspawn territory; the large beasts had ugly faces, large tumors covered its body, its large eyes rolled around as if it could see behind its head. Frey was disgusted by its lolling tongue that flopped in between its sharp teeth. Every time it moved the two massive thick tree trunk arms pounded the ground and would drag its misshapen body behind it lazily.

"Disgusting shits…" Frey muttered as he crumpled the paper he had gotten from the campsite camper from behind him, "Being able to talk to this Princess better be worth it!" he inhaled and exhaled slowly, he knew he should have a party to do this task, but everyone around him had fervently declined his invitation. None of these Adventurers have a backbone, he thought while doing a few little jumps to get rid of his nervousness. Fangspawns were not to be taken lightly, that much he knew, one wrong move and he'd be snapped in half and eaten in a split second. He focused on the monster, its back was turned to him, he could hear and smell its thick heavy breathing, every once in a while it would grunt while moving around; every now and then snapping at the flies that buzzed around its mouth.

With another quick inhale, he bum rushed the monster, his sword seeping into its thick purple flesh. Its scream rumbled the ground around itself, Frey almost lost his footing as he quickly dodged out of the way and swung again, this time his sword landing across the beasts face, giving it a deep cut across its eye. Blood sprayed everywhere and it showered Frey who swung around once more to slash the other eye, blinding the monster was his first task to make this easier on himself. Next was to wound each arm to prevent it from flailing about, then jumping high to sink his greatsword into the monsters skull, the finishing blow. Once he wiped the blood from his face, he suddenly smiled widely, the landing of two successful blows had gotten his adrenaline rushing, and his fingertips tingled in anticipation as he gripped the hilt of his sword tightly. Frey knew this feeling all too well; he had experienced the same rush of exhilaration when he had finished killing Ovoliths in Poporia. It had taken the Lancer to knock him backwards forcefully to bring him back to his senses before he killed one of the other party members.

But that _feeling_. That feeling felt _beautiful_ to him. Something he would have never experienced if he was still in Allemantheia, if he was still living that naïve and sheltered life, only growing up to study books and learn how to make bandages for his mother's shop. Always smiling at his neighbors and fellow brothers and sisters who were not blood-related, always listening to the rules, always taking orders, Frey gripped the hilt of his sword until his knuckles turned white under the blood. He refused to go back to that life; living outside of the metal walls was more liberating than discovering the latest enchantment for other Adventurers to use.

With wild eyes, Frey kept at his strategy, ignoring any on-lookers, and ignoring anyone who had stopped by, yelling if he needed help from the safety of the main road. All Frey could hear was the monsters screams and grunts, all he could feel was his sword connecting to the monsters flesh and the warm blood sloshing over its blade and unto his body. A scenic blood bath. He laughed manically to himself before lunging into a high jump, his greatsword pointed downwards and he threw his weight into the strike. With a loud sickening crunch the Fangspawn halted its movement as it made a gagging noise, its mouth hung open as it melted to the ground in a limp lump of slashed meat.

Frey landed besides the beast, he swung his sword to whip the blood off its blade, the blood splattered around him in a smooth arch, trees and flowers were heavily coated in the thick ooze and Frey looked to the side, the second Fangspawn was a few steps away, the smile appeared upon his lips once more as he rushed towards his next kill.

Porrim had gingerly picked the Dewdrop Bush and placed it into the small bag he had at his side. Phayxia sighed out of boredom as she looked at her nails to make sure her manicure hadn't chipped from gathering flowers and killing trees.

"Do you have to take so long in picking those flowers up?" she asked, "They didn't say it had to be in perfect condition."

"They didn't, but I don't want to give the requester bad goods." Porrim replied, he hid a smile as his sister rolled her eyes in frustration and marched towards another Dewdrop Bush not far from them and picked it up as gingerly as he had done. Porrim looked at Rileigh out of the corner of his eye, the Castanic was standing there, arms folded, scouring the area with his sharp eyes for anything out of the ordinary. Since the talk at Velika and absorbing the astounding scenery of Pora Elinu, the man had distance himself from Porrim once again. Phayxia could care less as she disliked the man's attitude and composure – not to mention the thought of being babysat throughout their entire adventure was putting her in a bad mood constantly.

"Careful of those Fangspawns," Rileigh suddenly said, grabbing Porrim's shoulder before the high elf could take another step, "one wrong move and you'll be eaten in one swoop."

"We're not _that _stupid to go near them Rileigh," Phayxia drawled out, she flipped her silvery hair behind her shoulder, "I swear you're like a mother hen, always over-protective of her chicks."

Rileigh shot her a Look, and Phayxia smirked smartly back before walking over to another Dewdrop Bush. Porrim sighed, he didn't understand why the two disliked each other so much, but he kept a close eye on the Fangspawns territory not far from them. In the distance they heard a rumbling scream that was suddenly gagged and silenced.

"Someone must be killing them." Rileigh muttered, he ran a hand over his disc, his guard never dropping, "We should be careful, you don't know when you'll have one rolling towards you since they're so erratic."

"Alright," Porrim replied, the three continued their task, killing the witches and vampires that littered the grounds in abundance.

There was suddenly another rumbling roar, this time much closer, the three had stopped for a break and was sitting around the campfire resting when a large group of animals suddenly rushed around them and ran away in fright. Rileigh stood up fast, his weapon already circling, ready to cast the first attack at what was coming towards them; Phayxia was also on her feet, her disc also floating in mid-air. Porrim stood up slowly, unaware of what was about to happen, but he readied his staff, ready for anyone that needed the quick heal before he ran away to the side to remain unharmed.

"Stay behind me!" Rileigh ordered Porrim, Phayxia huffed out.

"And what about me?!"

"If you shake those gravity defying tits, maybe it will turn tail and run!" Rileigh replied, annoyed.

"Excuse me?!" Phayxia exclaimed in offense.

"Guys-!" Porrim pointed in the direction where the animals had ran from; a Fangspawn coated in its own blood came rolling towards them in its blinded fury. Rileigh turned and tackled Porrim to the side to get out of the way while Phayxia quickly jumped backwards, a circle of ice on the ground where she had casted – the Fangspawn instantly had ice grow over its lower half, slowing the monsters thrashing. Rileigh got up quickly and began to cast alongside of Rileigh. Porrim raised himself off the ground, gazing at the beasts' size; they were bigger than he thought they were up close. He hadn't imagined it to be almost two stories high. Awestruck by the Fangspawn, he heard Phayxia and Rileigh yell out in pain as they flew backwards from one fell swoop of the Fangspawns arms.

Porrim stood up quickly as it turned its mouth towards him, his knees buckled, and for a split moment he had forgotten everything he had learned as a Priest and where he was at. Fear engulfed his eyes, and his breathing became shallow. All he could think of was the accident that had left him with the teeth mark scars when he was starting out on his journey.

"Porrim—MOVE!" Rileigh managed to shout, Porrim blinked but it was too late, the Fangspawn had raised a giant fist and as it came crashing down, he expected the worst. He shut his eyes tightly, raising his staff in front of himself as if the staff would deflect the attack.

But the blow never came. The Fangspawn let out a grunt and a sickening crunch was heard. Porrim, Phayxia, and Rileigh looked up and saw the high elf Slayer sitting on top of its head. His sword plunged deep within the Fangspawns skull; as the monster tottered backwards and fell, it sent the ground shaking around it and the elf withdrew his greatsword as if it was greased and flicked it around. The blood splattered the trees and flowers behind him as he slipped down the monsters blood towards the ground with ease. All three were shocked, but Rileigh was the first to recover.

"What, _the hell_?!" he shouted, becoming angry, if he had been a second late, Porrim would have been injured or worse, killed.

"What the fuck were you thinking?! Bringing this monster over here when you can clearly see we were here camping!" he walked towards the Slayer in anger.

"Eh?" Frey looked over his shoulder at the one shouting. It was a jumble of words mixed with rage that reached his eardrums. After killing his fifth Fangspawn he could feel his muscles aching from being exerted too much. But he wanted one more, he needed one more, and no one was going to get in his way.

Rileigh stopped in his tracks when he saw the Slayer drenched in Fangspawn blood turn around, the fur that lined his armor was no longer a fluffy pristine white, but matted down with the dark red liquid. His sword gleamed in Pora Elinus' glowing plant life and it didn't look like it had dulled much from the fight.

"Just, one more…" Frey muttered wildly, he raised his greatsword and took aim at Porrim who didn't look anything like a Fangspawn. Rileigh saw the Slayers next target and suddenly rushed at him before Frey could make his move. In a quick instant Rileighs' fist connected to Frey's delicate jawline and a loud pop was heard as the high elf was sent spiraling away towards the ground. Rileigh shook his hand out while breathing heavily. Porrim and Phayxia quickly stood by the Castanics side to look at the Slayer who was getting back up again.

"What the hell," Frey muttered while holding his head with his hand, "where am I?" he looked around at the new area that he was in while still sitting on the ground. Rileighs' anger flared up and he lunged at the man, grabbing him by the collar of his armor and shook him fiercely.

"Where am I?!" he repeated, "_Where am I?!_ You endangered a group of people and the first words out of your mouth are, "Where am I?!" Rileigh punched Frey once more.

"The fuck!" Frey looked at the Castanic, "Get the hell off of me!" he shoved the man off and got up while lumbering around from being disoriented in the new surroundings.

"Are you okay?" Porrim asked anxiously, he had recovered his voice and was standing close to Phayxia.

"Let's get the hell out of here," Rileigh spat, "don't waste your breath on scum like him." He nodded towards Frey's greatsword, "nothing good ever comes from dealing with a Slayer."

"Man, fuck you too," Frey replied while he fumbled and holstered his sword once more, "hey kid, can I at least get a heal?" he nodded towards Porrim.

"Don't give him anything, let's go." Rileigh butted in.

"Hey horns, I'm talking to the mouse over there, not you." Frey replied curtly. Rileigh was about to reply when Porrim spoke up.

"He didn't mean to bring the Fangspawn towards us," he said as he waved his staff in a perfect arch and healed Freys' wounds, "thank you for saving us…"

"Tch.." Rileigh huffed out while folding his arms, he was obviously not happy with the situation.

"Shit, I'm going to have to wash this blood off of me before I talk to the Princess," Frey muttered while shaking his hands of the blood onto the ground.

"You're going to talk to Princess Arin?" Phayxia suddenly spoke, three heads turned towards her and she turned red from being stared at, "I'm just saying, since he killed the Fangspawn, maybe she'll see him – and since we haven't done nothing but pick flowers all day, we could go as a group to talk to her, that is, if you don't mind." She hastily added in.

"We don't need this jerk to help us with anything." Rileigh replied, "This trip is for you two to work with the Federation and—"

"Hah! The Federation, what a joke!" Frey suddenly scoffed while rubbing his now dulling sore jaw, "Are you kiddies with them?"

"What's wrong with that?" Phayxia asked, her elegant arms crossed. Frey looked at the slender woman for a few minutes before Phayxia felt herself become flustered and turned her eyes away quickly, "W-What?"

"Nothing." Frey replied gruffly, "I don't mind babysitting a few kids who want to accompany me to the Princess but I want something in return."

"We're not going to negotiate anything with you. We don't need _your _help." Rileigh scoffed and began walking away while grabbing Porrims arm, dragging him with.

"Wait," Porrim halted his footsteps, "if we can get around dealing with the Fangspawn entirely, why not take him up on his offer?"

"Are you joking?" Rileigh said incredulously, "What do you possibly have to offer to someone like him?"

"We can pay him gold for his help."

"Gold? Really?" Frey said with a small laugh, "I'm sorry, but I don't need gold. What's your name kid? You and your girlfriend here look pretty high up there back in Allemantheia."

"Girlfriend?! Excuse me Blue Eyes but we're twins, not girlfriend and boyfriend," Phayxia snapped, her lips pursed tightly together at the thought of dating her brother, "we're not from some backwards family."

"Whatever." Frey sighed. The meeting with the three had become tiresome and his patience was wearing thin. The more he stayed here, the longer it would take to continue his journey to find the man that killed his father. He shook his head free of the thought; he didn't need to dwell on his fathers' memory right now, not to mention how distraught his mother had become after the whole ordeal.

"Well, it's time for me to take my leave," Frey said quietly, his mind elsewhere now.

"Wait," Porrim said, "my name is Porrim and that's my sister, Phayxia. Rileigh is our hired guard during our travels. We were collecting the Dewdrop Bushes when the Fangspawn came rolling towards us-"

"You don't need to tell him all that!" Rileigh said quickly.

"I agree, for once," Phayxia added in, raising an eyebrow at the very thought of agreeing with the Castanic, "we shouldn't be telling him about our business so soon."

Porrim huffed out a breath of annoyance. The two were becoming unbearable, but the presence of the icy blue haired high elf among them drew his curiosity out. How many Fangspawns had he killed to be covered in so much blood? His quick reflexes and movements had demolished the monster before Rileigh even had the chance to cast after recovering from being knocked backwards too. Not to mention he had noticed his eyes, they were wild like an animal, but after being socked in the jaw by Rileigh, he had calmed, his eyes turning soft and somewhat distant.

"If there's anything you'd like in exchange for helping us get an audience with the Princess, we'd happily oblige." Porrim said and before the other two could make their remarks he shot both of them a meaningful Look.

"I don't need anything right now, but I'd like to pocket this favor in case I need it in the future." Frey mused, "I don't need gold, or fame, judging by the way you both talk and are dressed," he nodded towards Phayxias' revealing dress, who, in return, pointed her nose in the opposite direction, "and I don't need any good words put in with Fraya either." He then sighed and waved a hand towards the direction of a pool of water close to them, a large blooming flower glowed gently in the middle of it.

"But if we're to see that stuck up Princess, I suggest we all clean-up a bit." Frey hopped down the small ledge they were standing on and splashed into the knee-deep water. The blood immediately dispersed around him as he sloshed about wiping the red liquid off, his hair shone brighter as so did his pale skin.

Rileigh held back Porrim so Frey would not hear their words.

"Are you sure you want to join up with a Slayer like him?" he muttered. Porrim glanced at him.

"Why not?"

"He nearly got you, and your sister, killed."

"It wasn't his fault—"

"His blade was aimed at you when that beast fell! Tell me you did not see his fighting stance switch towards your direction!"

"Does it matter now?! He agreed to help us talk to the Princess and we didn't have to kill those… _things_!" Porrims' eyes hardened and his voice was harsh. The memory of being attacked still weighed heavily on his mind. Rileigh ran a hand through his blonde hair in frustration but kept his reply to himself; he heard the desperation at the end of Porrims' sentence, and it finally struck him that Porrim was still afraid of dealing with beasts such as these.

"Alright. Alright fine. We'll stick with him for now, but when we're done," Rileigh swiped his hands away from himself, "we go our separate ways."

"We didn't get _your_ name, Slayer," Phayxia stood at the bank of the pond while watching the man wash himself of the blood.

"Oh, it's Frey, Frey Eveline." He replied, shaking water out from his armor.

"Eveline?" Phayxia blinked, "You mean, Eveline – the Eveline family that worked on The Core research?"

"My _father _worked on the research, not the family." He frowned, "I don't like my family being talked about, whether it's good or bad."

"Good _or_ bad? Your family should be wealthily recognized for your fathers' research! Allemantheia would be nothing without his work!"

"Do you know nothing of what came from that work?" Frey snapped at Phayxia, "It brought nothing but heartache and grief to my family!"

"Well don't take your anger out on me! I was simply praising your family name and the work your father had done." She replied, visibly upset now.

"What's going on here?" Porrim and Rileigh had come up from behind Phayxia, hearing his sisters upset voice made him slightly concerned.

"Nothing," Frey said, ignoring the womans' frowning face. He was no good with women; they always flip-flopped between being in a good or bad mood. It drove him crazy, but he had found out that buying them gifts and agreeing with them majority of the time was the best way to keep them quiet and happy.

"Okay…" Porrim said slowly as Frey climbed out of the pool, the water was now stained a deep sickening red from the wash, "I'm sorry but we didn't catch your name."

"It's Frey." Frey said curtly before summoning his horse, "It's beginning to get dark and that's when the real monsters come out," he mounted Sleipnir and dug his heels into the steed where it shook it's head and began trotting off. Rileigh grunted out of annoyance but did the same, Porrim and Phayxia following suit.

After another jest between Frey and Lienyn and Rileigh finally butting in to stop the two from pulling their weapons out to kill each other, their audience to the Princess was approved.

"What a brat," Phayxia muttered as they made reservations at the nearby Inn. The audience seemed to take forever as Princess Arin talked at lengths about nothing, making it hard for her to come back to the main subject at hand.

"Excuse me?" Porrim asked, trying hard not to laugh.

"You heard what I said! All this bickering between themselves and it's over who is the better animal race?! They care more about whose tail is better than their own Kingdom!"

"I don't think that's what this whole ordeal is about…" Porrim began.

"That's sibling rivalry for you," Frey said as he re-shouldered his pack, "tomorrow we'll head to—"

"Since when was it decided you were to be in charge?" Rileigh asked, cutting him off.

"Considering that I was the guy who got you three the audience with the Princess, I would assume that I would automatically take the lead of this little party."

"You can assume all you want, but we will not be taking orders from you."

"It's okay Rileigh," Porrim spoke up, "we're headed in the same direction anyway."

"Tch…" Rileigh scoffed and thumped upstairs to his room, Phayxia yawning and following suit.

Before Porrim could step after the two, Frey pulled him aside.

"Are you alright?" Frey asked, concern flickering in his eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"While riding on your horse, you were grimacing a bit in pain, it showed on your face. Did you get injured when that Fangspawn came barreling towards you three?"

"Oh—Oh, no, I'm sorry, it's from an old injury." Porrim quickly replied. He was surprised and slightly embarrassed that a stranger that he had just met could see the pain reflected from just horse riding.

Frey studied the priests' face, in which Porrim averted his eyes; he could feel his cheeks become flushed red from being gazed at for so long.

"Why are you sticking up for me?"

"Eh?" Porrims' eyes flickered back to Frey's face; his face was filled with curiosity now.

"Why? We just met, and that bodyguard of yours was right, if he hadn't hit me I would have killed you and your comrades. So why are you defending me?"

"I… I… well… you seemed able to take care of yourself in difficult situations, and we needed someone who was quick on their feet, so I thought it would have been good to add you to our party since we're heading in the same direction," Porrim rattled off.

"I see," Frey said, and suddenly uttered a small chuckle which startled Porrim.

"What's so funny?"

"You're such a soft spoken elf, aren't you? How did someone like you manage to leave Allemantheia without his parents putting you under lock and key?"

"What do you mean? I can take care of myself; I'm not inept to fight!"

"I know, I know," he waved a hand as if he didn't mean it in that way, "what I'm saying is that you and sisters name are recognizable within the city's walls as one of the noblest families. I've never heard of any of its family members joining the Federation to fight. You're all usually hiding behind the lines, out of line of sight from danger."

"My sister and I are nothing like that." Porrim said curtly, "And what about you? A high elf carrying a greatsword, if anything _you_ would be a disgrace to our race for taking up such a weapon. How did your family handle you as you grew up?"

"My business is my own," Frey's eyes became cold and so did his voice, "my rank is lower than that of a middle class soldier. So before you hop unto your high and mighty throne, think before you talk to someone like me who grew up as a peddler's son."

"Maybe it is _you_ who should think before talking to someone like me, and my sister," Porrim replied, anger began to bubble up within him, "with just your name, I can have your family thrown out of Allemantheia with the snap of my fingers!"

Frey suddenly grabbed Porrims jaw and hoisted it upwards, he leaned his face in close to the point where Porrim could feel the other breathe on his upper lip. Shocked at suddenly being grabbed like this, his body froze, and so did his words.

"You do what you want, _Princess_," Frey muttered, his eyes looking down unto the shocked priest, "but remember that we only just met, I have no _desire_ to befriend you or any one of your comrades. If you or any one of the others gets in my way, I will **not** hesitate to cut you down." He let Porrim go with a flick of his finger. He shouldered his bag once more and strode away towards the Inns' bar.

Porrim stood there, after blinking the shock away from his eyesight, he felt his legs shake a little and his breath came out shuddering. He had never felt so endangered by another high elf in his life, never less being threatened by his own brethren. Back in Allemantheia everyone gave him smiles and praise; no one ever said a bad thing to him or threatened to kill him. Porrim could feel his heart thump loudly within his ears, after taking a few quick breathes of air he stared at the now empty spot where Frey had once stood.

"_Princess_?" Porrim muttered, his anger flaring up once more, he folded his arms and narrowed his eyes, "I'll show him who the "Princess" is!" he stomped upstairs angrily, slamming the door behind him like a child.

"Ugh… are we done yet?" Phayxia whined, her ring finger nail had chipped as they finished killing the last Jester. Since the morning after breakfast, they had done nothing but weed their way through the Northeast section of Pora Elinu to talk to Arins' sister, Rida. Frey was ignoring the three as he made his way ahead, he had kept true to his word, if Rileigh had gotten in the way, Frey would not restrain himself from hitting the Castanic. But Porrim watched as he would avoid Phayxia constantly.

"It's like the man is afraid of her," he muttered to himself with a shake of his head.

"PORRIM!" Rileighs heavy voice shouted through the suddenly silenced air. Porrim looked in the direction of his body guard who was running towards him quickly. Phayxia screamed in terror as she also ran towards her brother. A large shadow had unknowingly loomed behind the priest when he was thinking of how he should get back at Frey for calling him princess last night. He looked over his shoulder and saw the thick tree-trunk legs on either side of him. A clear slick substance dripped onto his shoulder and his eyes traveled upwards to reveal a triangulated mouth filled with rows of sharp teeth, drool dripped down the sides of its mouth and unto the ground.

Trunus, the Savage Lurker, the beast that was in charge of the entire area of Pora Elinu – the one that even the Palace Knights avoided because of its wild nature and burrowing abilities. Many Adventurers avoided the monster, and they had the right to fear such a creature.

Porrim barely had the chance to smash his staff into the ground to leap backwards when the mouth came down in one fell swoop; he heard Phayxia and Rileigh screams in the distance. It was like the Orisk all over again.

Except, he had forgotten about Frey and his quick reaction time; the man had come out of nowhere, his greatsword was suddenly shoved up under the top mouth of Trunus' mouth. The monster roared, sending a sickening smell of rotting flesh and saliva over the two.

"**MOVE**!" Frey managed to shout over his shoulder, Porrim snapped out of his shock and quickly leapt out of the way. Before he could act again, the monsters mouth slipped down on Frey's greatsword and the spot where the Slayer would have been standing was now empty.

All three halted, their eyes and mouths opened wide with shock for a few seconds as Trunus raised its head and bobbed it backwards to eat the man he had just gobbled up.

"It… it ate him…!" Phayxia managed to utter, Rileigh gritted his teeth in anguish but with narrowed eyes begun to cast once more. Porrim stood there and watched the two take turns attacking the massive beast. Its tail whipped around wildly and he quickly began to heal his party.

It had eaten Frey.

It had swallowed him in one fell swoop.

How was Porrim to get his revenge on the hot-headed Slayer now? Porrim gritted his teeth and had also begun to attack the monster, the monster in return screamed as each blow from each comrade landed in its right spots. Rileigh had succeeded in blinding the creature and Phayxia had begun to burn the monsters red-orange flesh.

It's mouth opened one more time and snapped at them, trying to suddenly retreat to it's safe zone – but the three were not going to allow him to leave alive. With their mana almost exhausted, Porrim could feel nothing but anger and tears. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Phayxia fighting back tears as she also wailed on the monster with her own bombs. They had just met this man the other day, why were they so taken with him already?

As Trunus began to drag himself away, his head whipping back and forth, snapping jaws in warning, the three collapsed to their knees. Trunus was almost dead, and it was retreating, they were exhausted and covered in the beasts blood.

"Damnit!" Rileigh yelled while punching the ground with his fists.

"Why… why is he gone…" Phayxia said in shock, her bottom lip trembling, "he killed all those Fangspawn the other day! Why is he gone!"

"Frey…" Porrim managed to utter. They were still far from defeating Trunus, who had barely managed to drag itself away when it began to make a soft gagging noise. The three looked in its direction, and suddenly saw a long blade sticking out from its stomach. Trunus wailed in pain, the ground shook around them as leaves fell off the trees from above. The blade flashed downwards and a blood covered Frey rolled out from its immense belly.

"W-What, Frey—Frey!" Porrim got up and slowly ran towards the man. Rileigh and Phayxia looked in the direction Porrim was running and also got up quickly, following the priests footsteps.

"Disgusting…" Frey muttered as he dragged his greatsword up once more. Trunus was limply flailing about, its tail trying to raise up to whip it around and strike the Slayer. Frey coughed, spitting out the monsters blood. Bile had already begun to eat at his armor and burned parts of his skin, before Porrim could heal Frey, he watched as the man walked up to the monster, his greatsword dragging behind him tiredly.

He raised his blade over the monsters skull, "Thank you for the ring," he said before he brought it down in a sickening crunch. Trunus body seized as a new pool of blood surrounded its head; the body slowly began to dissipate as the three ran to his side.

"What do you think you were doing you idiot?!" Rileigh yelled as he thundered over to the Slayer, "Even if I dislike you, I don't want another death on my hands!"

"Ugh, shut up," Frey muttered, "I got what I wanted, that's all."

"You mean… you mean you _intentionally_ got yourself eaten?!" Phayxia exclaimed and she sunk to the floor in shock, "Why? Why would you do that?!"

Frey held up the blood covered trinket in his hand, the gold shining through in various spots, "There's a buyer who needs this ring."

Phayxia and Rileigh gaped at the small ring then at Frey.

"A-Are you _that _crazy?! You risked your life over a little ring like that?!" Phayxia yelled so shrilly that a glass window was heard shattering somewhere back in Pora Elinu.

"We thought you died, and here you are, acting like our worries were for nothing," Rileigh said, his fists balled up, ready to punch the Slayer when Porrims hand came flying out of nowhere; slapping Frey as hard as he could. The monsters blood whipped off Freys cheek as his head snapped to the side from the force of the hit. His sister and Rileigh stared at the priest in shock; both didn't think Porrim had it in him to hit someone.

"Just because you wield a greatsword doesn't mean you can get away with what you just did," Porrim said in a level voice, his face full of scorn, "even though you just joined us the other day, it doesn't give you the right to make us feel like we meant nothing as we continued to risk our lives to kill Trunus and avenge your death!"

Frey touched the now swelling cheek as Porrim lectured him. His eyes flickered to Porrim and saw how hurt he was in his eyes. He looked away, and it took Phayxia to calm her twin down after five minutes of lecturing.

Back in Pora Elinu, the party was greeted with warm smiling faces; word had gotten back to the Palace how the four had single handedly taken down Trunus without problem. Of course they had heard the abridged version, and no one had heard of Freys crazy antics of being swallowed alive to get one tiny ring from the belly of the beast. A feast was prepared in their honor, and everyone joined in with the partying. Everyone's worry was suddenly forgotten for the night as they all ate and drank in their honor and rejoiced over the beast dying and relief was temporarily brought upon them before a younger and healthier Trunus took its throne in the area once more.

As Phayxia and Rileigh got into a heated debate over who was worse out of the Princess Sisters, Frey managed to pull Porrim to the side once more when no one was looking.

"What do you want now?" Porrim asked icily, he hadn't talked to Frey since Trunus fell.

"I wanted to apologize," Frey muttered, he wasn't good at apologies, but this situation called for it since he was reckless in his own sense, "but in all defense, I was trying to keep you safe."

"Me, safe? I was about to leap out of the way until you came rolling in!"

"Your legs had buckled, I saw when Trunus' mouth came crashing down towards you—I didn't think, I had to do something. Whatever happened to you in the past, you need to put it behind you, if you keep letting it interfere with your journey, you'll only get more hurt or worse, die."

"Are you kidding me?" Porrim exclaimed, a few people looked at them when Porrim raised his voice, he quickly nodded his head in apology and lowered his voice once more, "You think I can put past what happened to me? We just met; you have _no_ right to judge me, my sister, or even Rileigh!"

"Then tell me," Frey said quietly, "tell me what happened. If we're going to be travelling together for a while, I don't want secrets that will get any one of us in harm's way."

Porrim was taken back at the remark, why did Frey care so much anyway?

"I will tell you if you tell me why you laughed at us joining the Federation and why you and my sister were arguing when we first met," Porrim said.

"I will trade a story for a story. I cannot tell you my reasons for disliking the Federation as I don't have enough facts to make it believable, and I can't trust anyone with this information just yet." Frey ran a hand through his short hair, his earrings shone in Pora Elinus glowing light; he looked slightly distraught over it.

"Fine." Porrim pulled Frey into an empty quarter where no one was occupying, the music and delightful singing and yells could be heard muffled from behind the wall. He slowly raised part of his robe to reveal his scar of neatly rowed teeth marks on his torso; Frey stared at the scar in bewilderment, the nearly perfect arch of teeth marks disappeared under the priests slacks.

"We were travelling by carriage, it was raining," Porrim began, "an Orisk caught scent of our horses and attacked from underground. Rileigh got out of the carriage to investigate when the carriage suddenly shattered, everyone and everything went flying. It was hard to see what was happening at first, but the Orisk had grabbed hold of me and bit down." He closed his eyes as he placed a hand unto the healed wound, he still remembered the sharp pain he had felt when the Orisk had semi-bit down.

"I managed to blow apart his jaw and he released, after that I blacked out, I don't remember much after that."

"That's… That's amazing…" Frey breathed as he reached out to touch the scar with his elongated fingers. Porrim flinched as Frey's fingers were cold and felt them trace down the row of teeth, "Every story I've heard that dealt with Orisks, each one who fought against one has died." He murmured.

"I-I guess I'm lucky," Porrim said and quickly lowered his robe back in place once Freys hand left his torso.

"Damn lucky." Frey replied, still in awe at the scar.

"What about you, why were you arguing with my sister?" Porrim asked before they could dwell on the memory for too long.

"Ah," Frey studied Porrim for a few seconds, debating if he should tell the priest anything, after turning it over in his mind a few times he inhaled, "since I was born, my father was working on The Core."

"_The_ Core?" Porrim asked, surprised. He had heard stories of Fraya asking for only the best of the best high elfs to work on a research project. It was shrouded in mystery and guarded well, not even the noblest of families knew of the research unless you were directly involved.

"A year ago my father and his team discovered that the only way to contain and keep The Core safe was for it to be hidden within an abled body. Serion was the one chosen when on the battlefield, I'm sure you've heard the stories." Porrim nodded, he remembered reading about the man's sacrifice, but not much was said about it afterwards.

"There was intense research that followed it, my mother and I rarely saw my father after that. She sold bandages to wary travelers, and I was meant to study and follow in my father's footsteps," he gritted his teeth, "but one day a child appeared with two voices coming from its mouth and slaughtered the entire team, even with all the guards that were protecting the research center, everyone… everyone was killed and the research was stolen. I vow revenge for my father, I will find that child and kill him for destroying my family."

"Why… why was not the city notified?" Porrim managed to say after a few seconds of silence, "I hadn't heard anything of this…"

"Why indeed," Frey said quietly, he folded his arms deep in thought of the remark, his blue eyes flicked to Porrims, "Fraya hides many things from the city inhabitants, and we're not to show any problems within our empire, you of all people should be well aware of this."

Porrim fell silent, he was aware, yet he was still unsure about it. Did this really happen? His family was of highest rank and wealth within Allemantheia's walls. He was sure that money had to be filtered into this research, but why had no one told him of this? Even though he was still in training to become the next heir, he did not like secrets to be kept from him. Frey reached out and slowly lifted Porrims chin up to face him. The gesture surprised Porrim, it wasn't like before, forced and uplifting, but gentle and caring.

"Even if it's within the walls of our city, there are still many secrets a noble like you are not aware of." Frey mused, his eyes glinting in the soft light. He smiled a small pitiful smile. Porrim stared at Frey and suddenly become aware of each other's class.

Porrim was of high nobility, heir to the wealthiest family within Allemantheia, yet he knew nothing of its most humble secrets.

While Frey was that of lower class, a high elf that saw much but was forced to say nothing, all while his father was murdered. No one to mourn his father's death, no one to even realize that the man had died protecting the city and his own life work, no one to properly give a funeral to those whose lives were lost behind closed doors.

The two were worlds apart, even though they were born within the same walls of Allemantheia.

"Oh? I'm sorry," Frey suddenly said with a sympathetic laugh, he withdrew his hand and brought out a silken handkerchief.

"Eh?" Porrim felt the tear slide down his cheek at the realizations at how lost he truly was within the city affairs – even though he had wanted nothing to do with them; he didn't know the feelings he had would suddenly form into tears. Embarrassed, he took the handkerchief to wipe his eyes.

"We should get back to the party," Frey said lightly, "I heard a group of Adventurers single handedly killed Trusun."

"O-Oh yeah?" Porrim managed to utter a laugh at the joke, "Did you hear about the idiotic Slayer that rushed in and got himself eaten?"

"I hadn't." Frey laughed apathetically and the two walked out from behind the wall, the music filling their ears once more as they were handed mugs of alcohol and party hats while they once more were praised for their heroism.


End file.
